My thoughts on the Phillies season.

The Phils’ offense come alive once again as they continue to handle the Nats, beating them, 7-4.

The Phils’ offense broke out as they once again defeat the Nats, 7-4.

The Phils took the lead in the fifth as Raul Ibanez hits a lead-off home run, his second home run of the season, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Phils then took a 2-0 lead as, with the bases loaded, via a single by Brian Schneider, before he was forced out at second base on a ground ball hit by Wilson Valdez, 6-4, a single by Vance Worley, sending Valdez up to second base, and a walk to Jimmy Rollins, sending both runners up a base, and with one man out, Shane Victorino hits an RBI single, scoring Valdez, while sending Worley up to third base, and Rollins up to second base. The Phils then took a 3-0 lead as Placido Polanco hits a sacrifice fly, scoring Worley. The Nats got a run back in the sixth as, with a runner on second, and with two men out, Adam LaRoche hits an RBI double, scoring Danny Espinosa, who had earlier been hit by a pitch, then moved up to second on an Ian Desmond ground out, 6-3, making it a 3-1 Phils’ lead. The Phils got the run back in their half of the seventh as, with the bases loaded, via a walk to Ben Francisco, and singles by both Ibanez and Schneider, and with nobody out, Valdez hits an RBI single, scoring Francisco, making it a 4-1 Phils’ lead, while seniding Ibanez to third and Schneider up to second, leaving the bases loaded. Two batters later, with the bases still loaded, and now with one man out, the Phils took a 5-1 lead as Rollins hits an RBI single, knocking in Ibanez, while sending both Schneider and Valdez up a base each, leaving the bases loaded. The Phils then added to their lead as Victorino hits a ground to the second baseman, who then forced out Rollins at second base for the inning’s second out, 4-6, before the shortstop, Desmond, committed a throwing error to first base, allowing both Schneider and Valdez to score, giving the Phils a 7-1 lead, while letting Victorino to reach second base on the error. The Nationals cut the Phils’ lead to 7-4 in the ninth as, with runners on second and third, and with two men out, Espinosa hits a three-run home run, his third home run of the year, knocking in Laynce Nix, who had earlier singled, then went to third on pinch hitter Matt Stairs’ single, his 100th pinch hit of his career, and Stairs, who had just singled, then went to second base on defensive indifference. But, that would be it as Danys Baez finally ended the game by getting Desmond to ground out, 6-3.

Vance Worley (2-0, 0.75) gets the win as he went six innings, giving up a run on four hits and a hit batter, while striking out seven. J.C. Romero and Michael Stutes combine for two scoreless innings, giving up two hits (one hit each) and a walk (Stutes), while striking out two batters (one each). Danys Baez pitched an inning, giving up three runs on three hits, while striking out two. Jason Marquis (3-1, 3.66) took the lost as he went five innings plus four batters, as he gave up seven runs, six of which were earned, on ten hits and two walks, while he struck out two. Brian Broderick pitched an inning, giving up a hit, while striking out one. Sean Burnett and Todd Coffey combine for two scoreless innings, giving up a walk (Coffey) between them.

The Phils had eleven hits in the game, with Raul Ibanez leading the team with three hits, two singles and a solo home run, knocking in a run. Jimmy Rollins (Singles, RBI) and Brian Schneider (Singles) followed with two hits each. Shane Victorino (Single, 2 RBIs), Placido Polanco (Single, RBI), Wilson Valdez (Single, RBI) and Vance Worley had the other four Phils’ hits. The other Phil run came in on a Nats’ throwing error.

The Phils (20-9, 1st) will conclude their three-game set with the Nats (14-16, 5th) with a night game at Citizens Bank Park. The game will start at 7:05 pm EDT. The Phils will send Roy Halladay (5-1, 2.14) who is coming off a complete game win against the Mets on April 30, as he gave up a run on seven hits and a walk, as he struck out eight, in the Phils’ 2-1 win. He will be trying to win his fifth start while trying to lead the Phils to a sweep. The Nats will send to the mound John Lannan (2-3, 3.78), who is coming off a lost against the Giants on April 30, as he pitched six and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks, in the Nats’ 2-1 lost. He will be trying to stop the Nats current losing streak. The Phils will once again be trying for their third sweep of the season.

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